December 31, 2021

Hotel Near Kennedy Space Center with Rooftop Views of Rocket Launches to Open in March (Source: WFTV)
A new hotel opening in March near the Kennedy Space Center will feature a rooftop deck with a restaurant and “Space Bar” for guests to enjoy as they watch rocket launches from Florida’s Space Coast. The Courtyard by Marriott Titusville – Kennedy Space Center hotel is being developed by Delaware North in Titusville, the same company that operates the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.

The Kennedy Space Center hotel will be located on Riverfront Center Boulevard off State Route 405 on part of the former site of the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame, 7.1 miles from the space center and 6.4 miles from Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. A spokesperson for the hotel said the signature feature for the property will be a rooftop deck with a bar and restaurant called The Space Bar, offering views of the Indian River, Merritt Island and Kennedy Space Center. (12/31)

Why Space Stocks Need a Bit of Elon Musk's Charisma (Source: The National)
Space stocks fizzled this past year despite their futuristic lure. Some Elon Musk-style boosterism, similar to what he did for the electric vehicle industry, might be just what they need to stage a turnaround in 2022. Mr. Musk has floated the idea of taking his SpaceX company public, and the parallel with EVs would be hard to ignore. Space exploration and electric vehicles both focus on a future that is not quite here yet, promising huge opportunities as new technologies evolve into viable companies.

But while stocks tied to the EV revolution soared this year, space-focused names – after some initial euphoria – trailed badly behind the broad market. High-profile tourist flights by Richard Branson’s publicly traded Virgin Galactic Holdings, and by Jeff Bezos’s privately held Blue Origin and Mr. Musk’s SpaceX, were not enough to overcome doubts about whether this is a real business or just a divertissement for billionaires. It does not help that the companies trading on exchanges lack a charismatic cheerleader to focus the market’s attention.

If Mr. Musk’s Space Exploration Technologies chooses to go public, that would solve some of those issues all at once. “It would be a tent-pole IPO,” said Nicholas Colas, co-founder of DataTrek Research. “It is that single asset that can focus people’s attention and make them understand what space investing is about. It isn’t about going to Mars or tourism, but getting hardware to space that is current, updated technology.” (12/30)

Astra Space: Headed For Dis-Astra (Source: Investing.com)
Kerrisdale Capital is short shares of Astra Space, a $2 billion space launch company formed at the peak of the 2021 SPAC bubble—with no revenue, no track record of reliability, and no established market for its undersized vehicle. A story stock that’s yet another example of the questionable businesses going public via SPACs, Astra faces massive obstacles in its quest to develop a viable business model.

Astra is poorly positioned within an overcrowded market for small launch vehicles. Its main competitors will soon be launching larger 1,000kg+ payload rockets while Astra has yet to overcome developmental hurdles necessary to successfully launch even a single satellite into any of the emerging broadband mega-constellations.

Shortly after Astra announced its SPAC merger, the company increased its payload capacity goal (not a trivial matter in rocket programs) and signed a “secret” deal with a competitor for access to some of the competitor’s more powerful engine IP—both clear signs that Astra is struggling to keep pace with market leaders. (12/30)

Astra Space Faces Critics, Skeptics as it Plans Florida Launch (Source: UPI)
Astra Space, one of few new rocket companies to reach orbit, is facing stiff criticism from skeptics about its business model as it plans its first launch from Florida. The California-based company announced Dec. 6 that it planned to launch NASA satellites in January from the Cape Canaveral Spaceport. Since then, the company has released no further details about a launch date and has not responded to requests for an interview or more information.

Astra holds a contract to launch tiny NASA satellites within the next six months under the space agency's Educational Launch of Nanosatellites program, but neither Astra nor NASA has confirmed the payload for the upcoming launch. On Wednesday, Astra became the target of a harsh critique by New York-based financial firm Kerrisdale Capital, which said the rocket company has "no revenue, no track record of reliability, and no established market for its undersized vehicle."

After the report, the stock plummeted 10%. It recovered some of that value Thursday, closing up 2.1% at $6.75. At least two law firms have announced they are investigating Astra for possible "violations of the securities laws" following the Kerrisdale report. "The business proposal doesn't make sense," Lionnet said. "Astra wants you to believe that it can sell cheap rockets for launches tailored to individual customers. But not everyone can afford a [custom] suit. There is no indication that the number of customers they need are actually out there." (12/31)

University of Florida Team Tests Optical Communications Technology Ahead of Small Spacecraft Swarm Demonstration (Source: Parabolic Arc)
Teams from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge and University of Florida (UF) in Gainesville are currently testing components of NASA’s CubeSat Laser Infrared CrosslinK (CLICK) B/C demonstration, aiming to validate that the technology can be packaged into a CubeSat and work as expected. CLICK B/C is the second of two sequential missions designed to advance optical communications capabilities for autonomous fleets of CubeSats.

Anticipated to deploy from the International Space Station in 2023, CLICK B/C’s ground testing occurs on an engineering development unit (EDU) at MIT. The EDU is a non-flight test unit that allows the team to assess the technology’s integration and correct any issues with the system’s hardware and software prior to building the actual system that will fly into space. (12/31)

SpaceX Starship Orbital Launch Delayed by FAA (Source: Capital.com)
SpaceX was forced to push back the first orbital flight of its Starship/Super Heavy spacecraft after the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) set a new target date for environmental approvals back to 28 February. Starship, which is intended to one day take crewed missions to the moon and Mars, is now expected to launch on its first orbital mission sometime in early March.

The FAA said it received 18,000 public comments about the draft Programmatic Environmental Assessment (PEA), which is used to access the environmental impact around the Boca Chica launch site in Cameron County Texas. Due to the high volume of comments the FAA decided to push back the release of the final PEA from its original date of 31 December. (12/30)

Space in 2021: Launches, Tourism and Lots of Science (Source: Spectrum News13)
Dozens of launches, critically important science and the dawn of space tourism were some of the key highlights for the year that was in space. There were 31 launches from the Space Coast, ranging from experiments and human launches to the International Space Station to science and military missions to low Earth orbit and beyond.

Peter Cranis, the executive director of the Space Coast Office of Tourism, said the proliferation of launches is helping the economy of the Space Coast return to pre-pandemic levels of activity. “From an occupancy perspective, you see that the weeks where there are launches really spiking,” Cranis said. “Of course, comparing ourselves to 2020, in 2021 we’re way beyond that. So, we were really looking back to 2019 numbers. And seeing we were matching 2019 and, in some cases, beating it in a given week. So, ’21 was really an impressive turnaround for us.” Click here. (12/30)

The 10 Wildest Things We Learned About black Holes in 2021 (Source: Space.com)
Scientists who study black holes can rest assured that their field will deliver astounding and mind-bending findings, year after year. And 2021 was no exception, with many exciting new results regarding these strange gravitational beasts. Here, we take a look at this year's most captivating black hole discoveries and how they've advanced our understanding of the universe. Click here. (12/30)

Here's 7 Things the International Space Station Taught Us in 2021 (Source: Space.com)
The International Space Station is the world's most extreme and expensive scientific laboratory. In its more than 20 years of operations it has housed thousands of experiments, providing fascinating insights into the effects of microgravity on the human body, cultured cells or various materials and chemical processes. Here are the most interesting findings that the space station delivered in 2021. Click here. (12/30)

Darkness Caused by Dino-Killing Asteroid Snuffed Out Life on Earth in 9 Months (Source: Space.com)
The years following the asteroid impact that wiped out non-avian dinosaurs were dark times — literally. Soot from raging wildfires filled the sky and blocked the sun, directly contributing to the wave of extinctions that followed, new research has found.

After the asteroid struck, around 66 million years ago, the cataclysm extinguished many forms of life instantly. But the impact also caused environmental changes leading to mass extinctions that played out over time. One such extinction trigger may have been the dense clouds of ash and particles that spewed into the atmosphere and spread over the planet, which would have enveloped parts of Earth in darkness that could have persisted for up to two years.

During that time photosynthesis would have failed, leading to ecosystem collapse. And even after sunlight returned, this decline could have persisted for decades more, according to research presented Dec. 16 at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union (AGU), held in New Orleans and online. (12/30)

The Biggest Launch Failures (and Recoveries) of 2021 (Source: Space.com)
Rocketry is hard, and international players in the industry are constantly trying to learn from any failures. The year 2021 saw more than 10 failures of various missions during or shortly after launch, from the United States to China to South Korea. Here is the list of failed space missions this year and what we know about plans for the future. Click here. (12/30)

Should Pluto be a Planet Again? The Debate Rages On (Source: NBC)
A team of scientists wants Pluto classified as a planet again — along with dozens of similar bodies in the solar system and any found around distant stars. The call goes against a controversial resolution from 2006 by the International Astronomical Union that decided Pluto is only a “dwarf planet” — but the researchers say a rethink will put science back on the right path.

Pluto had been considered the ninth planet since its discovery in 1930, but the IAU — which names astronomical objects — decided in 2006 that a planet must be spherical, orbit the sun and have gravitationally “cleared” its orbit of other objects. Pluto meets two of those requirements — it’s round and it orbits the sun. But because it shares its orbit with objects called “plutinos” it didn’t qualify under the new definition.

As a result, the IAU resolved the solar system only had eight major planets — Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune — and Pluto was relegated from the list. But a study announced in December from a team of researchers in the journal Icarus now claims the IAU’s definition was based on astrology — a type of folklore, not science — and that it’s harming both scientific research and the popular understanding of the solar system. (12/30)

Humans Would Probably Start Eating Each Other in Space (Source: Metro)
Experts have warned that humans could end up eating each other if crops fail when we finally set up colonies in space. Two leading scientists looking at how we could leave Earth have told Metro about the challenges and opportunities that the ‘inevitable’ prospect offers our species. They earmarked Jupiter’s moon Callisto and Saturn’s counterpart Titan as possible destinations.

Charles Cockell, a professor of astrobiology at Edinburgh University, said the possibility that our planet becomes uninhabitable because of the climate crisis was a ‘catastrophically bad’ reason to make a colony. Instead, he believes it is sensible to spread the species out as an ‘insurance policy’ against extinction. ‘Even with the best technology, isolated human communities can degenerate very quickly. ‘If you put a group of people on Callisto, things start going wrong and the plant growth module breaks down, they are going to eat each other if there is no other way to survive.’

Dr Cameron Smith agreed that food supplies are a key issue. 'One of the first things that they would have to do is establish a really good farming system and put in a lot of stored food’, he explained. He cited the example of a Uruguyuan football team who worked together constructively after being stranded without food after a plane crash. The survivors did turn to cannibalism, but only among those who had already died. Dr Smith added that any breakdown of order could be avoided by establishing pre-agreed rules to follow in the event of certain situations occurring. (12/26)

SpaceX Raises Over $337 Million in Fresh Funding (Source: Reuters)
Billionaire Elon Musk's SpaceX has raised $337.4 million in equity financing, the rocket company disclosed in a regulatory filing on Wednesday. SpaceX, which counts Alphabet Inc. and Fidelity Investments among its investors, hit $100 billion in valuation following a secondary share sale in October. It had raised about $1.16 billion in equity financing in April. (12/29)

Congress Turns Down a Space National Guard Again, But Space Force Isn’t Giving Up (Source: Air Force Times)
Military leaders this year continued pushing Congress to create a new National Guard as part of the fledgling Space Force, but lawmakers still aren’t convinced. The 2022 National Defense Authorization Act signed into law by President Joe Biden on Monday left out the provision to stand up a Space National Guard, and another which would rename the Air National Guard as the “Air and Space National Guard.”

Instead, lawmakers argued they don’t have enough information to create another branch of the National Guard. “This year’s NDAA asks for additional information from the Department of Defense about the establishment of a Space National Guard, because, simply put, we don’t know enough about the total cost and bureaucratic requirements of this expansion,” said Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK). The 2021 NDAA called on the Air Force to report back on the best way to organize space-focused Guardsmen and Reservists. Chief of Space Operations Gen. Jay Raymond, said in June that the paper was nearing the end of its approval process before heading to Capitol Hill.

One school of thought suggests a two-part structure: the Space Force, encompassing a single pool of active-duty personnel and part-time reservists; and the Space National Guard to handle state and certain overseas missions. Another proposal from the National Guard Bureau in February 2020 would have moved about 1,500 people from the Army and Air National Guards in seven states and one U.S. territory to a Space National Guard. Officials argued that would streamline chains of command by allowing those units to report to the Space Force and would minimize new costs. (12/30)

Space is Stressed, it's Time to Clean Up the Junk (Source: Khaleej Times)
Tech titans launching into space could spark off conflict between countries beyond the earth. The main protagonists are the United States and China that have made rapid strikes in the sector in recent years, including a space station that houses astronauts. This has echoes of the Cold War in the domain but there are two key differences this time: the USSR does not exist; Russia has fallen behind China.

Private players have joined the race; they compete with each while stoking tensions, albeit unintentionally with their ambitions of taking space travel to another sphere even if it is only for a brief 10 minutes. Talk of instant gratification. They are already raking in millions from the ultra-rich and adventurous, and this is only the beginning of paid trips to space.

Those who can afford the costs go beyond the confines of the planet but the world and environment are likely to pay a price if governments do not step in to regulate the sector before it is too late. These ultra-rich corporate czars are clearly not content with their achievements in technology and have raised their ambitions, which is great as they expand their horizons. But there’s a price to pay in the real world as we mentioned before. Let’s get down to brass-tacks. (12/30)

A World Divided by Covid and Other Ills United to Explore Space (Source: New York Times)
America was a nation divided, but that did not stop it from building parts of the James Webb Space Telescope in a red state and testing them in a blue one. The European Union and Russia were facing off over Ukraine and other issues this year, but scientists from both sides will benefit greatly from the discoveries that could soon be within reach.

And while the pandemic snarled supply chains around the world, no lockdown could derail the telescope’s trajectory to the stars: Parts were assembled across multiple nations, then tested in the US and the final product ended up on a launchpad in French Guiana before being hurtled into outer space on Christmas Day. In some ways, the James Webb Space Telescope told a story seldom heard these days: the tale of nations coming together for a common ambition.

At a time when countries are divided over climate change, migration and a disease that has killed millions, the spacecraft — launched to search for habitable planets and to seek out the earliest, most distant stars and galaxies — was a potent reminder that international cooperation on grand-scale projects was still possible. With cooperation, however, has come competition as well. China, which did not participate in the project, is intending to launch its own space telescope expected to be a kind of competitor. China has also been teaming up with Russia on its own missions as the Russia-U.S. space alliance has come under strain because of political tensions between the countries. (12/30)

In 2022 a Moonrush Will Begin in Earnest (Source: The Economist)
During the cold-war space race the Apollo missions were mostly about making a political and technological point. Having made it, they duly ceased. Now, approaching half a century after astronauts last walked on the Moon, a new age of lunar exploration is dawning. This time the goal is to sustain operations there. More people are in on the action, too. South Korea’s first lunar spacecraft, an orbiter, is to be launched this summer. The UAE hopes to become, in the autumn, the first Arab country to operate a craft on the Moon. And Israel hopes to land a probe on the far side of the Moon—a feat accomplished so far only by China.

The UAE rover will be delivered by hakuto-r, a landing craft built by Japan's ispace, launched by SpaceX. Hakuto-r will also carry a baseball-sized rover from Japan’s space agency. India likewise plans to put a spacecraft on the Moon in this coming year—its first attempt having (as did a previous try by Space il) crashed into the lunar surface in 2019. Russia is another hopeful. It last landed a vehicle, Luna-24, on the Moon in 1976. Luna-25 is to blast off in the coming year, too.

The most ambitious Moon efforts, though, are America’s. NASA's Artemis program aims to return people there by the middle of the decade. The coming year should see at least 18 NASA-sponsored lunar missions, some of which will deliver equipment and supplies for later use. The Artemis "Gateway" orbiter is scheduled for a 2024 launch. The protective outer shell of Gateway’s living space is being built by a Franco-Italian firm. ESA is also chipping in Esprit, a module that will allow Gateway to be refuelled once it is in lunar orbit. Canada is making the station’s mechanical arm. And Thales Alenia Space is at work on a second habitable module, i-hab. (12/30)

12 of the Strangest Objects in the Universe (Source: Space.com)
There's no questioning the fact that the universe is weird. Just look outside and you'll see all manner of strange, self-reproducing flora and fauna, crawling upon a blue ball of semimolten rock covered in a thin, hard shell and blanketed by a tenuous film of gases. Yet our own planet represents a tiny fraction of the peculiar phenomena that can be found lurking throughout the cosmos, and every day astronomers turn up new surprises. In this gallery, we take a look at some of the most outlandish objects in space. Click here. (12/30)

After Milestone 2021, China’s Space Program to Continue at Pace in 2022 (Source: NasaSpaceFlight.com)
The year 2021 has been a historic one for China’s space program. The country achieved a successful landing on Mars, started on-orbit assembly of the modular Chinese Space Station, and has a wide range of orbital-class launch vehicles entering service and under development. Looking back at the launch statistics of 2021, China managed an average cadence of launching more than once a week for the first time in its orbital spaceflight history.

55 orbital launches have taken place – with most of these using rockets of either the legacy Chang Zheng 2, 3, and 4 family, or the next-generation Chang Zheng 5, 6, 7, and 8 series entering service to replace them. Other launches have come from the private company Galactic Energy with their Ceres-1 rocket, i-space with their Hyperbola-1, and the government-subsidized ExPace with their Kuaizhou vehicles. We recap the last year and look ahead to what is planned for 2022 and beyond in the Chinese space program. Click here. (12/30)